Review in Progress, Part 1 - Final Fantasy XV Columns

SBFord

Review in Progress, Part 1 - Final Fantasy XV Columns

Rob kicks off the review in progress for Final Fantasy XV this week. After 10 years in development is it worth the wait? Read on to find out.

Read the full story here

Righteous_Rock

Bababooeeee!!!

Eothas

I'm really enjoying this game, I think most people will struggle with the combat system at first, but after some time you get used to it and it's so fluid, I love it! Noctis and his friends are very likeable, specially if you have watched the anime.

Also little details in the game make the experience so much better. For example Prompto is always taking random pictures with his camera, at first I thought this was "meh..." but then I realised that as a MMO player I love taking screenshots. Saving the best photos and looking the album at the end of the game will be very cool IMO.

The OST is amazing like in every Final Fantasy, combined with great environment design makes a very immersive experience.

Square did a great job and I think everyone should try it before screaming that "It's not FF because it's not turn based".

The only thing that I'm missing is the 'hard' difficulty option, it should be available from the start for veteran players even if it was just HP/Damage increase from enemies.

Most people complaining are either ressentful because it's not turn based (which is a ridiculous reason) or because it lacks a playable woman character (which is a fair enough reason, but they are bashing other aspects of the game based on it, not fair).

cameltosis

The combat and the characters are my biggest worries about the game. I'll watch the anime tonight and see if that changes my mind about the characters, but the combat still looks and sounds like crap to me.

Can anyone that's played 15 point me to any similar games (in terms of combat only) so I can gain better perspective? I generally dislike action combat so that is pretty much enough to put me off this game entirely.

Also, how open world is this game? FF13 was terribly linear, combined with terrible characters and an awful combat system it ended up being a really bad game. I'm hoping 15 has at least removed the linearity.

Grakulen

cameltosis said:

The combat and the characters are my biggest worries about the game. I'll watch the anime tonight and see if that changes my mind about the characters, but the combat still looks and sounds like crap to me.



Can anyone that's played 15 point me to any similar games (in terms of combat only) so I can gain better perspective? I generally dislike action combat so that is pretty much enough to put me off this game entirely.



Also, how open world is this game? FF13 was terribly linear, combined with terrible characters and an awful combat system it ended up being a really bad game. I'm hoping 15 has at least removed the linearity.

It's Night and day compared to XIII in terms of open versus linear.

Volgore

I admit that i have absolutely NO idea what all these countless FF titles are about.

To me it looks like these are all completely different and independent games that share the same title for whatever reason.

Guess i'm missing out on some good games here, but i refuse to give in to this silly hodgepodging of different games under the same title!!11

Warlyx

only played for 2h and yeah im having tons of fun , explored a bit , talking to the guys on the restaurants to show all the info on the map , fights are good , but i still miss ATB or turn based , changing weapons on the fly is awesome , the graphics are jaw dropping, some textures upclose are meh (noctis when driving on the passenger seat u notice it more)

would love to move the camera far away while driving or moving , driving is a bit dissapointed since u are on rails, wasnt expecting a GTA but more freedom would be cool
the ascension grid is nice but in the end u will end up having everything a bit meh for that system.
the chars are really well done , the conversations are fun , and it makes it feel like real people ...

stoped playing and can wait to see whats next on the story

Volgore said:

I admit that i have absolutely NO idea what all these countless FF titles are about.

To me it looks like these are all completely different and independent games that share the same title for whatever reason.

Guess i'm missing out on some good games here, but i refuse to give in to this silly hodgepodging of different games under the same title!!11

thats what make FF so amazing that even tho the games share similarities every game is different different story , different gameplay , different system , only share the magic , summons , mobs , some weapons , and names of the npcs .... started as old rpg , moved to ATB system (bars going up to take turns ) then moved to turns w/o atb , then fasters and faster gameplay until now that is basically an action rpg with some tints of jrpg ....

Bloodaxes

Volgore said:

I admit that i have absolutely NO idea what all these countless FF titles are about.

To me it looks like these are all completely different and independent games that share the same title for whatever reason.

Guess i'm missing out on some good games here, but i refuse to give in to this silly hodgepodging of different games under the same title!!11

The company was going bankrupt and they were developing an rpg game as their final attempt. They called it final fantasy because if the people didn't like it, it would be their FINAL game. The game rocked, the name stayed. 

Yes, in general, each title is in a different era/universe/whatever. If you don't have anything to play and like rpg games, they are not bad. Obviously it varies on the basis on liking these style of games or not.

XImpalerX

Is there an option to use Japanese voice overs?

YashaX

I have only played a few hours, but in brief my initial impressions are that the game systems are great, from cooking and fishing to combat everything is enjoyable. However, the world is boring/bland and lacks internal consistency or a sense of mystery/wonder, the music sucks, the clothing design and lack of customization is a downer, and the lack of a female party member(s) is disappointing.

 To be honest the game is just kind of boring at the start. It doesn't reach out and grab you the way say Metal Gear Solid 5 did, or "wow" you the way FFX did. It demands that the player put effort into getting to know the world without actually giving you much a reason to do so, other than "this is a Final Fantasy game".

I mean without the FF tag, there is no way I would have bought a game about a few bros having a roadtrip through the US outback, being forced to listen to shitty music like "standby me", grabbing fetch quests from drab gas station stores, and then fighting mobs that inexplicably just "appear" from thin air (like in an mmo) and often look strangely out of place. My question is, seriously, would you?

Scot

Ok I own up, I stole Cindy's clothes. But I have to say what she has done with what she had left is amazing. :P

Tiamat64

YashaX said:

I have only played a few hours, but in brief my initial impressions are that the game systems are great, from cooking and fishing to combat everything is enjoyable. However, the world is boring/bland and lacks internal consistency or a sense of mystery/wonder, the music sucks, the clothing design and lack of customization is a downer, and the lack of a female party member(s) is disappointing.

 To be honest the game is just kind of boring at the start. It doesn't reach out and grab you the way say Metal Gear Solid 5 did, or "wow" you the way FFX did. It demands that the player put effort into getting to know the world without actually giving you much a reason to do so, other than "this is a Final Fantasy game".

I mean without the FF tag, there is no way I would have bought a game about a few bros having a roadtrip through the US outback, being forced to listen to shitty music like "standby me", grabbing fetch quests from drab gas station stores, and then fighting mobs that inexplicably just "appear" from thin air (like in an mmo) and often look strangely out of place. My question is, seriously, would you?

I would if it was an all-female party.  They could do things like admire wedding dresses, camp in the wilderness, take photos of things, cook, fish, kill monsters, and also have conversations with each other like real women actually do!

BillMurphy

XImpalerX said:

Is there an option to use Japanese voice overs?

Yes!

lahnmir

Final Fantasy: The Dudebro Edition

I'm loving it so far, very different to earlier FF games but very refreshing.

/Cheers,
Lahnmir

RPGMASTERGAMER

loved final fantasy 3-4-5-6-7 ( 8 a litle ) 9-10

they lost me at 11, they did not get me back at 12 and 13 either...

14 was online i did play a bit and it was okay

15 that clear now im not their target

the main cast caracters look almost like female, they are not manly, they act like pop group for teen, with a story kinda boring... and the open world that i dislike...

not for me !! pass

Bloodaxes

drivendawn said:

RPGMASTERGAMER said:

loved final fantasy 3-4-5-6-7 ( 8 a litle ) 9-10

they lost me at 11, they did not get me back at 12 and 13 either...

14 was online i did play a bit and it was okay

15 that clear now im not their target

the main cast caracters look almost like female, they are not manly, they act like pop group for teen, with a story kinda boring... and the open world that i dislike...

not for me !! pass

Really? I love these over the top hyperbole statements. If you played any of the ffs as claimed in your post You would know most of the main characters in ff game are anime pretty boys with fashion that comes right from j-pop.

Even the claim that the whole main cast looks like female is hyperbole.

Only Noctis and the blondie look "feminine", the rest look quite older than the other two. 

YashaX

drivendawn said:

RPGMASTERGAMER said:

loved final fantasy 3-4-5-6-7 ( 8 a litle ) 9-10

they lost me at 11, they did not get me back at 12 and 13 either...

14 was online i did play a bit and it was okay

15 that clear now im not their target

the main cast caracters look almost like female, they are not manly, they act like pop group for teen, with a story kinda boring... and the open world that i dislike...

not for me !! pass

Really? I love these over the top hyperbole statements. If you played any of the ffs as claimed in your post You would know most of the main characters in ff game are anime pretty boys with fashion that comes right from j-pop.

I don't think the guys look particularly effeminate compared to past ff games, but they sure do look more like a Japanese idol group/boy band than any game I have ever played. The "real" world setting is probably partly to blame for that.

cameltosis

YashaX said:

drivendawn said:

RPGMASTERGAMER said:

loved final fantasy 3-4-5-6-7 ( 8 a litle ) 9-10

they lost me at 11, they did not get me back at 12 and 13 either...

14 was online i did play a bit and it was okay

15 that clear now im not their target

the main cast caracters look almost like female, they are not manly, they act like pop group for teen, with a story kinda boring... and the open world that i dislike...

not for me !! pass

Really? I love these over the top hyperbole statements. If you played any of the ffs as claimed in your post You would know most of the main characters in ff game are anime pretty boys with fashion that comes right from j-pop.

I don't think the guys look particularly effeminate compared to past ff games, but they sure do look more like a Japanese idol group/boy band than any game I have ever played. The "real" world setting is probably partly to blame for that.

I think the main difference is the quality of the graphics. FF (and japanese rpgs in general) have always had quite effeminate male characters, but when the graphics are crap and the dialogue is all text-based, you just don't notice. 

For example, I always used to love Cloud in FF7, I just thought he was a cool teenage boy, quite chilled out despite being caught up in massive events. Then when I saw Advent Children, I realised that he's an effeminate emo dude that I couldn't relate to and I really stopped liking him. 

filmoret

Is the combat like Lightning Returns?   I hated that because they tried to mix action combat in the middle of it.  I mean why even call it final fantasy if they are going to make it an action game?  I was able to fully enjoy 13 but 13-2 was too open world and I didn't feel like walking around talking to everyone to find the story cutscenes.

Bloodaxes

Final Fantasy doesn't mean turned based only.

Tiamat64

Protagonists for Final Fantasy I - VI were canonically a lot older than the ones afterwards (they all have ages).  Although Amano's art of them was quite effeminate all around, it was also so... fuzzy that it could be ignored as an artistic license kind of thing, I think.

Nobuo's art for Cloud wasn't that effeminate either, I think, nor did he look as such in the game CGs (or if he somewhat did, it was vague enough and those CGs were so rare compared to the usual blocky graphics that people could ignore them).  Of course, Cloud looks effeminate in Advent Children, so one could say that this was a graphical style shift for the FF series in general, I suppose.

Ozmodan

When I found out it was not available for the PC I just marked it as another console game that was not worth my time.  A good friend has been playing it and likes it, but I was not impressed with the game to go buy a playstation.

Bloodaxes

Ozmodan said:

When I found out it was not available for the PC I just marked it as another console game that was not worth my time.  A good friend has been playing it and likes it, but I was not impressed with the game.

Sadly all final fantasy games are console exclusive until much later. (I'm still waiting for FF12 remake on pc)

I really want to play this and also kingdom hearts but I don't want to buy a playstation only for them.

filmoret

Bloodaxes said:

Final Fantasy doesn't mean turned based only.

It did untill last year.

Bloodaxes

filmoret said:

Bloodaxes said:

Final Fantasy doesn't mean turned based only.

It did untill last year.

How about Final Fantasy Crisis Core (PSP), Final Fantasy Dirge of Cerberus (Playstation 2), Final Fantasy 12 (Playstation 2) and Dissidia Final Fantasy (Great PSP game btw) ?

filmoret

Bloodaxes said:

filmoret said:

Bloodaxes said:

Final Fantasy doesn't mean turned based only.

It did untill last year.

How about Final Fantasy Crisis Core (PSP), Final Fantasy Dirge of Cerberus (Playstation 2), Final Fantasy 12 (Playstation 2) and Dissidia Final Fantasy (Great PSP game btw) ?

You are listing some of the lesser known titles.  FF12 wasn't action based either.  With the ability to pause it was more turned based then anything.   Now we are looking at Lightning Returns which is action based combat and idk about this new one.  FF13-2  which just made everything overly confusing.  So comparing those spinoffs to the main titles isn't even considerable.  We have 15 turn based titles.  2  online titles.  2 action titles.  So yea Final Fantasy is known for its turned based strategy combat mode.